Coach Bill / Dad, Entrepreneur Special Educator, American Political Scientist, Writer, Musician.

For a few years I have been working on integrating the showmanship and basketball skills of the Harlem Globetrotters into my 1:1 coaching work with kids and adults on autism spectrum, those with ADHD/ADD and/ or those with executive function skill deficits. I see the ball-handling skills exhibited by professional basketball players and such show acts as the Globetrotters in-line with the holistic executive function skill use I teach and model. I also see the body positions that are required to surf and skate well pop up as we move to rhythm and beat, beat to rhythm. I love it. As I dance before dawn early in the morning or late at night I get ideas on how to stay crisp, fresh, keep the fun present, sustain and quickly implement ‘real-time’ coach-student feedback, harness my energy, manage my students energy, and the observable positive results I am able to help trigger.  I’d be remiss to say that my basketball moves don’t flesh into my dancing. They mesh with the...

Is it wishful thinking that growth hacking executive function skills through ‘alternative’ methods work faster than pure ABA therapy when working with individuals on the autism spectrum? Its not.  Why do U.S. Special Education dollars in public schools get outsourced when talented Special Educators get paid next to nothing for their heart and soul sacrifice? Does a hybrid instructional approach work better? What professional SHOULD be playing ‘point guard’ as the main expert in instructing students with disabilities like autism or ADHD?  Over the last twenty years in U.S. public education their has been a seismic shift in Special Education. Special Educators have lost critical footing due to top-down educational decision-making that is disconnected from the actual teacher-student connection. for example, having BCBA’s or ‘Board Certified Behavior Analyst’ as alternative Special Educators coming in to give additional expertise via the route of a...

Are you a parent of a child who fly's off the handle easily? Have you been making unprofitable attempts to modify your child's behavior? Try a back-door approach next time. Put on a mindset of "small beginnings." Introduce some new activities, like meditation (start at 10 seconds if that is what they can endure  (with a sleep mask to keep their eyes closed, and you holding their hand in a comforting way) Other Executive Function/ brain balancing activities and sports to put into your arsenal are  ping pong, role-playing, yoga, tennis, swimming, paddleboarding, hiking, or working with coaching cards (parentcoachcards.com). Likewise, introducing acceleration interval training (30 seconds speed burst, 1minute rest, repeat 8x's), and chess, teaches kids social skills, and refines their frontal lobe self-management activities. Through the context of these very engaging activities, parents and coaches directly facilitate executive function skill development, but...

Does a Teacher/ Coach's mindset and expectations drive a program? Can it mean the difference between great, lackluster, and a dismal educative outcome? To say that in any field or industry one's mindset and expectations don't have a direct impact on performance level would probably be very naive. So the time before a coaching session, or the Teacher entering the classroom, is as important as during the actual instruction. Being a routine reader of Sun Tzu's, 'The Art of War,' I find it useful to consider the current chemistry and existant rapport that I as a parent or coach may have with the child. From a diplomatic perspective, and with a focus on keeping the experience positive an able-bodied parent or teacher can be able to begin establishing new, sturdier framework from which to launch varied initiatives inversely focused on toning executive function skills, like mental flexibility. Reading up on Sun Tzu helps push the mind to consider and extrapola...